Hugging and Leaning
by chocolatequeen
Summary: When the Doctor, Rose, and Jack land on a planet celebrating Christmas, Rose learns the Doctor is more interested than she'd thought. But just when she thought things might change between them, he changed instead. Will either of them find the courage to take the next step? (Marked as Ten/Rose but is also Nine/Rose. There's not a way to tag as both.)
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Doctor/Rose Christmas fluff based on the conversation in While You Were Sleeping about the difference between hugging and leaning. I've used the movie dialogue here in chapter 1. Chapter 1 is Nine/Rose, and then chapter 2 will be Ten/Rose.

"Chrono sensor is nearly fried," the Doctor muttered as he tucked the sonic screwdriver back into his pocket.

He heard footsteps in the corridor and cocked an ear to listen to the conversation. "So, any requests for your first trip, Jack?" Rose asked.

The Doctor pulled himself out from under the console. "'Fraid any request stops will have to wait," he said, wiping his hands off on a grease stained rag. "Chasing your signal through the Vortex put a bit of a strain on the TARDIS. Thing is, I don't have the part I need, so we need to visit Cetera before we go anywhere else."

The former conman smiled his easy grin. "It doesn't really matter to me where we go."

"Is she all right?" Rose asked, running a finger down the railing.

The Doctor tried to hold back his dopey grin, but judging by the knowing look on the ex Time Agent's face, he didn't fully succeed. "The TARDIS is fine Rose, or will be once I fix her up."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

At her command, the Doctor set the coordinates. He looked over his shoulder at their newest traveller and grinned. "Watch this," he said and flipped the lever.

Jack's eyes widened as the Time Rotor began its slow chug up and down as the ship took them out of the Vortex to their destination. "And if I went outside…" he said, gesturing over his shoulder to the doors.

"Cetera," the Doctor said, his arms crossed over his chest.

Rose nodded when he looked at her, and then laughed when he spun around and raced to the doors, throwing them open. A blast of cold wind carried a swirl of snow inside the console room, and he quickly closed the door.

"Well, it's a new planet, but I recommend warmer coats."

"You both know where the wardrobe room is," the Doctor said. "Don't mind me; I'll just be sitting here waiting while you find something to protect your feeble human physiology."

He double checked the coordinates while they were gone, making sure they'd landed at a time when the junk shop he needed was in business, and during a period when the planet accepted credits.

"We're ready when you are, Doc," Jack said as he and Rose reentered the console room.

"After you, Captain," the Doctor said, and Jack opened the doors again.

This time when the doors opened, the Doctor caught a whiff of pine and the crisp scent of cold air. Rose peeked out over Jack's shoulder and then looked back at the Doctor, a frown on her face. "There's holly and evergreen boughs hanging from all the street lights. I thought you said we were on Cetera," she said.

"We are!"

"Then why does it look like Christmas?" Rose levelled a glare at the Doctor. "Don't tell me, lots of planets have a Christmas?"

He pushed gently on her back, encouraging her to go outside. "If they were colonised by Europeans they do," he insisted. "You humans, you take your culture with you wherever you go. You can find a place to celebrate most major holidays you're familiar with, if you know where to look."

A flyer on one of the lamp posts caught their eye, and Jack read it out loud. "Holiday market, every day in Yule, with entertainment on the green after dark."

"Yule?" Rose asked. "Is that what they call Christmas then?"

"Nah, Cetera adopted the old English names for months… only with modernised spellings. Yule is December, more or less."

Rose sniffed the air. "Is that chestnuts? Oh, I haven't had roasted chestnuts in ages!"

The Doctor rummaged around in his pocket and handed her a credit stick. "Makes no sense for you to come to the junk shop with me. Take Jack to the market, and stay out of trouble. I'll meet you there when I'm done."

"Come on Rosie," Jack said, walking backward down the pavement. "Let's see what we can find."

Rose waved at the Doctor and then jogged after Jack, locking his elbow with hers.

The junk shop was exactly as the Doctor remembered, a shabby store front sitting in front of a large, fenced in salvage yard. "Hello?" he called out when he entered the shop and found it empty.

A short squat man came bustling out from the office. "You just caught me, sir. I was about to close for the holiday. But how can I help you?"

"I'm looking for a chrono sensor."

The man pulled a huge log out from under the desk. "Let's see… Chrono sensor. Hmmm, here's a chronoadaptable awl, and chrono pliers, and a chrono hammer… chrono sensor…" Finally, the man's face book into a wide smile. "Ah yes, I thought I had one. Section Alpha Five," he said.

The Doctor paused at the door. "What about the chronoadaptable awl?" he asked. He didn't need it now, but it never hurt to have a few spares on hand.

Twenty minutes later, the Doctor was whistling as he dropped the parts off in the TARDIS and made his way toward the centre of town. The sun was still an hour from setting, which meant he had time to enjoy the market with Rose before the evening panto and concert started.

His good mood disappeared when he rounded the corner and spotted his two human companions standing only a few inches apart. Rose held something in her hands, and from the way she beamed up at Jack, it had clearly been a gift.

The Doctor's scowl deepened when Rose leaned in to give Jack a hug.

The crunch of his footsteps in the snow alerted them to his presence. Rose pulled away from Jack, her tongue peeking through her smile in a way that would normally have melted the Doctor like butter. But he knew now that she didn't actually mean anything special when she looked at him like that, and the disappointment left a sour taste in his mouth.

"Right you two," he said brusquely. "I just came to tell you I've got the part. I'm going to spend the afternoon repairing the TARDIS while you waste your time celebrating so we can leave as soon as you get back." He turned on his heel and started back down the street, not caring if it looked like he was stomping away in a huff.

He was halfway down the street when he heard Rose calling his name. Instead of turning, he lengthened his strides, eager to get away from her before he did something stupid that showed how hurt he was by her choice.

But he should have known she wouldn't be put off so easily. The TARDIS was in sight when he felt her hand on his elbow, tugging so he'd face her.

Rose stared up at the Doctor, the storm clouds in his eyes completely baffling her. "What's the matter with you?"

He shrugged her hand off his arm. "You didn't seem to need me around, thought I'd get out of the way."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, leaning against the wall and rubbing at her forehead in confusion.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "I just figured, because of the whole Jack thing… Well, three's a crowd, yeah? Not that I think the captain would mind," he muttered.

Rose's mouth opened a little. That sounded an awful lot like jealousy, but why would he even think that. "Because of the… what Jack thing?"

He sighed and looked away. "The leaning thing."

Every explanation he gave only confused Rose further. "What, because he gave me a gift?" she asked, realising he must have seen the exchange.

The Doctor nodded and rocked forward on the balls of his feet. "And then you leaned."

"And then I leaned," she repeated.

"Yeah."

Rose gave half a nod, expecting the Doctor would elaborate on his agreement, explain what leaning actually meant. But when he took a step back and she realised he intended to retreat to the TARDIS without another word, she pressed for more information. "Okay, how did I lean when I leaned?"

Irritation flashed in his blue eyes. "It was a lot different from hugging," he spat out, his Northern accent strong. "Hugging is very different. Hugging involves hands and arms…"

He caught her eye and his demeanour shifted, his voice dropping into a low rumble Rose could feel all the way to her toes. "Leaning is whole bodies moving in like this…"

He put a hand on the wall behind Rose and started leaning closer. Rose stared into his eyes, all her earlier anger melted into something else.

"Leaning involves wanting…" The Doctor shifted closer and his gaze flicked down to her lips. "…And accepting…"

Rose's tongue darted out to moisten her dry lips, and his startled gaze met hers. She saw the question there and nodded slightly.

"Leaning," he whispered as he came even closer.

Rose closed her eyes in anticipation of his kiss, but instead, she heard Jack say, "Hey, Rosie, is this guy bothering you?"

There was a hint of red on the tips of the Doctor's ears when he pulled back. Rose looked over at their friend who was barely containing his amusement. "No."

"Are you sure? Because it looks like he's… leaning," Jack said, motioning slightly with his hand.

The Doctor barked out a laugh. "Thank you!" he said.

Rose watched the moment slip away, but she wasn't going to lose the entire evening too. She slipped her fingers through the Doctor's, taking small victory in the way his hand tightened around hers. "Let's go back to the market," she said.

He looked uncertain, and she took a step backward, tugging on his arm. "C'mon," she wheedled, looking up at him through her eyelashes. "There's a panto starting in half an hour. We've just got time to find seats."

She was delighted when he let her pull him down the street, Jack following along behind them. A stage had been set up on the green, and a stall was renting blankets to spread out on the ground. Rose pulled out her credit stick and got a nice thick one big enough for the three of them, then made her way through the crowd until she found a patch of ground large enough.

Once the blanket was spread out, she settled herself firmly between the two men. As thrilling as the Doctor's jealousy had been, since it hinted at feelings she hadn't thought he possessed, she wasn't about to let him control who she spent her time with. She'd made that mistake once with Jimmy—never again. The Doctor's tense shoulders told her he'd noticed the seating arrangements, but when he glanced down at their still linked hands, she felt him relax.

The panto was a completely new story to Rose, but the audience participation hadn't changed in all the centuries since her time. Soon she was shouting, "Look behind you!" and "Oh no it isn't!" along with the natives.

When it was over, Jack laughed delightedly and pulled Rose to her feet. "I've never actually seen one of those."

"Really?" Rose asked. "But you're human." Based on the Doctor's earlier comments, about humans and Christmas, she'd assumed Jack would be familiar with all the same traditions she was.

Jack shrugged. "We have Christmas, but not pantomimes." He shivered. "We do have mulled wine though, and after sitting on the ground for an hour, I think we all need to warm up." Rose started when he slipped his hand into the pocket with her credit stick with a cheeky wink. "Be right back."

A few minutes later, he returned with three large cups. Rose plucked her credit stick from between his fingers and then took one of the cups. The first sip of spiced wine brought warmth back to Rose's hands, and she sighed in contentment. "Feels like Christmas," she mumbled, taking another sip.

"Hang on a tic," the Doctor said, taking the wine from her and setting it down on a picnic table. "I'm going to get us something to eat—can't have you drinking all that Rigellian wine on an empty stomach."

Rose laughed as he walked away, muttering something about dragging drunk humans back to the TARDIS. "S'pose we should sit down and wait for him to bring the food," she said to Jack, swinging a leg over the bench.

Jack took another drink of his wine. "One glass of wine won't get me drunk and the Doc knows it," he told Rose, then sat down across from her. "He's concerned about you, like usual I'd guess."

"That's just the way the Doctor is." Rose ran her finger around the rim of her cup. "He feels responsible for the people he travels with."

Jack's snort surprised her, and she looked up at him. "You don't expect me to believe it's a sense of responsibility that sent the Doctor storming away earlier," he said. "I admit I was surprised when I caught up with you—he doesn't seem like the type to go in for public displays of affection, but—"

"Jack," rose said loudly, anxious to stop this train of thought. "Whatever you… the Doctor 'n me… we're not…" She huffed out a breath in embarrassed exasperation, hoping she'd said enough for him to fill in the blanks.

His eyes widened. "You've never even kissed?" Rose felt herself blush bright red, and she took a large swig of her wine to hide her face. Jack groaned. "Oh Rosie, I am so sorry. I never would have interrupted if I'd known that."

An impish look crossed his face. Rose had only known him for two days, but she was already wary of that expression. "What're you planning, Harkness?"

"Oh, nothing… But if you'd like, I could always arrange for you to be locked in a room together. A little forced confinement, maybe a conveniently placed bed…"

Rose's first instinct was to argue that they didn't even know if the Doctor was interested, but then she remembered the longing in his eyes earlier when he'd had her pressed against the wall.

"Nah," she said finally. "I think we can take care of things on our own." She'd always wanted the Doctor, but she'd never thought he'd reciprocate. But maybe that was changing… finally.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: The ice skating scene in this is very loosely based on the scene in _While You Were Sleeping_ when they slip and slide across the ice back to her apartment. Jesse prompted me to write ice skating fic for Christmas, and I wanted a way to make it unique… and I happened to be watching the movie. So actually, this scene came before the first chapter.

Thanks to rudennotgingr for the prompt, for being a sounding board, and for betaing. And just in general for being awesome.

The next time they celebrated Christmas, their relationship still hadn't changed, but the Doctor had. Rose took care of him all day, wondering if this fit bloke with really great hair was actually the Doctor. Then she watched him win a sword fight to save the planet and those doubts were swept away.

But one still remained. If he was a different man, would he even want her around anymore? Six words put that fear to rest: "Oh, I'd love you to come."

Later that night as they sat in the living room watching the Christmas specials and eating gingerbread, Rose kept stealing glances at him from the corner of her eye, cataloguing the differences. He was a little quicker to smile and he certainly talked more… and he didn't seem to have the same protective armour her first Doctor had.

His laughter brought her back to the present, and her eyes narrowed as she looked at him. Sure, this him smiled more, but that kind of laughter… She took in the flushed cheeks and sighed, taking the wine glass from him. "Oh, Time Lords don't get drunk Rose," she teased.

"Rose! Rose, did you have some of this?" he asked, waving the plate with gingerbread crumbs under her nose. "It's incredible! I've never had anything like it. Welllllll… that might be because I never eat gingerbread, but this has got to be some of the best. Top notch, Jackie. Bravo. Molto bene!"

Rose looked at the plate, then back at his unnaturally bright eyes. "Really? You get pissed eating gingerbread?"

'Take him back to his box to sleep it off, Rose," her mum said. "I don't want to clean up alien sick in the morning."

"Want some help?" Mickey offered.

"Nah, I think I can handle this him," Rose said, purposely ignoring all the ways she'd like to handle him. "C'mon you," she said to the Doctor, tugging him to his feet. "Up you get."

The Doctor grinned as he lurched to his feet. "Oh, are we going somewhere Rose?" he said and slung an arm over her shoulder.

"Yeah, home," she said on a laugh. "Mum, I'm just gonna sleep in my room on the TARDIS," she said from the door. "I promise we'll be around for a few days though."

"You'd better be," Jackie warned. "I don't want you going off without saying good bye."

"Rooooose," the Doctor said as they made their way down the hallway. "Have I ever told you how I feel about your… noooooose?" He giggled. "Get it? Rose and nose. They rhyme."

Rose rolled her eyes and guided him toward the stairs. "Yeah, well done Doctor," she said as she encouraged him to put the hand not resting on her shoulder on the railing

.

After going down one flight, Rose was regretting turning down Mickey's help, but she couldn't very well leave the Doctor in the stairwell while she went back up to get him. "Why'd you go and eat that cake anyway if you knew it would get you drunk?" she muttered as they reached the first floor landing.

"Didn't want to insult Jackie," he said, and she was surprised by how clear his voice was.

Looking over at him though she realised he was still pretty out of it. "That would be a first," she said with a laugh. "Why's it matter to you now?"

Manoeuvring the door kept him from answering, and by the time they were back out in the brisk winter air, she'd almost forgotten she'd asked a question. "Didn't want you to get mad," he said quietly as they crossed the courtyard.

"What? Oh, that's why you ate the cake. Doctor…" Rose sighed and pulled her key out.

The TARDIS lights flashed when they walked in, and Rose thought she could feel the time ship's amused exasperation with her pilot, but she brushed off the notion. "I wouldn't have been mad if you'd told us the cake would make you sick, Doctor," she told him as they walked down the corridor toward his room.

"But what if you got mad and decided you didn't want to come with me anymore?"

The question stopped her dead in her tracks. Rose turned slightly to face the Doctor, and the open vulnerability on his face made her heart ache.

"Doctor… that's never gonna happen," she said, tightening her hand around his waist.

"But what if it did?" he persisted.

Rose sighed. Apparently irrational emotional outbursts were just as common in drunken Time Lords as they were in humans. She pulled him the few remaining yards to his room and opened the door, then tugged his arms out of his coat and jacket before pushing him down onto the bed.

"Rose, what if it did? What if you decided to stay here?" he asked again as she lowered him to his bed and dropped to her knees to untie his Chucks.

"I'm not gonna," she promised him gently. The look in his eyes reminded her of the previous day—God, was it only yesterday?—when she'd asked him if he could change back. She'd seen the hurt in his eyes then, and she wouldn't let him go to bed without reassuring him as much as possible.

"Promise?" he said, grabbing her hand.

"I promise. You're stuck with me, remember?"

The furrow between his brows relaxed and his head eased down into his pillows. "Stuck with you… s'not so bad," he mumbled right before he fell asleep.

Rose put a glass of water on his bedside table before she went to her room to get ready for bed. The entire time she was brushing her teeth and changing into her pyjamas, she kept seeing the look on the Doctor's face as he'd verbalised his fear that she would leave him.

Clearly, they both had some insecurities to work though. Rose had thought most of the issues would be hers, after watching the man she loved change right in front of her. Was he still the same on the inside? Would he still want her? But it seemed the Doctor's fears were equally strong—now that he'd changed on the outside, would she still want him?

"What we need is a few days' rest. Just a holiday while we get to know each other again," she decided as she drifted off to sleep.

When the Doctor woke up the next morning, the pounding in his head was all the reminder he needed of his foolishness from the previous night. "Right, brilliant plan Doctor," he grumbled as he rummaged through his bedside table for an analgesic. "Instead of making Rose angry by refusing to eat Jackie's cooking, get so wasted she has to carry you back to the TARDIS."

He froze, hazy memories of their conversation coming back to him. Surely he hadn't told her… hadn't let her know how desperately he needed her to stay with him. He had a feeling he had, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember how she'd replied.

The Doctor was half convinced his neediness would have Rose packing her bags. In his admittedly limited experience, human women were not generally won over by inebriated blokes who made pathetically clingy statements begging them to stay.

But instead, Rose greeted him in the galley with a smile and a cuppa. "Good morning! How are you feeling?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Hangover cure from Maldova Five. Listen, Rose…"

She waved away his apology. "It wasn't the first time I've put a drunk to bed, Doctor, though I admit, none of the others had been hitting the gingerbread too hard."

The corners of her mouth twitched, and he couldn't help but chuckle. "Now you know one of my few weaknesses, Rose Tyler."

"Are you sure you trust me with such dangerous knowledge?"

"There's no one I trust more," he said, wincing when he heard how earnest he sounded.

Rose smiled sweetly, and his hearts skipped a beat. "Listen, I know we don't usually just… stay put," she said as she rinsed her tea cup out, "but I thought maybe we could stay here through the New Year?"

"And what would we do in London for a week?"

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "I think there's enough here to keep us occupied. She took his cup and washed it as well before looking up at him. "It's just been a while since I celebrated Christmas, y'know?" she said.

The Doctor knew exactly how long it had been since Rose had celebrated Christmas. He also knew how close things had come to changing that night. He'd still been working up the courage to follow through on his almost promise when he'd regenerated.

This new him wanted Rose just as much as that him had, more maybe since he'd died with her taste on his lips and had been born loving her. Her quiet request that he change back had nearly killed all hope that she would ever return those feelings again.

But a purposeful reference to Christmas on Cetera fanned the one remaining ember to life, and he had to swallow a few times before he could answer. "Sure, we could do that I suppose. The TARDIS could do with a rest anyway—someone thought it would be a good idea to fling her out of the vortex at top speed."

"Oh really?" Rose grinned at him, her tongue peeking out from behind her teeth. "I wonder who that could have been."

The Doctor would have been a complete idiot to miss the pattern in the places Rose took him over the next few days. The London Eye, Big Ben (to watch the restoration), Albion Hospital… they were all places that held significance in their relationship. She even bought the combo ticket for the London Eye and Madame Tussaud's, joking that the waxen figures reminded her of Autons.

With each outing, he grew more confident that she was trying to tell him, in her own way, that she knew he was still the same man. It was hard to believe a human could adjust so quickly to the strangeness of regeneration, but she seemed to be doing everything she could to tell him she had.

And if she'd wanted him before, then maybe… The small ember of hope had fanned into flamed, but he still needed something more, some definite sign that she not only saw him, but that she wanted their relationship to change.

After three days of domestic adventures, the Doctor found Rose in the galley flipping through Lonely Planet's London guide. "I think I'm tired of the tourist stuff," she said, tossing the book down on the table.

"Back to the stars then?" he suggested, surprised to find he was a little disappointed.

"No," Rose said. "You promised through the New Year, and it's only the 30th."

"All right then, where to Rose Tyler?"

She looked sideways at him, and his stomach tied in knots. _What is she planning?_

"I was wondering..." she said slowly, drawing the words out teasingly. "Does the world end if the Doctor ice skates?"

Her words turned his world upside down. "I don't think so," he said, striving to match her casual tone. "In fact, Rose Tyler, I've got the moves—but I wouldn't want to boast."

Rose grinned, and the Doctor thought he saw something like relief in her eyes—relief that he'd picked up her cue and run with it? _If Rose had the courage to get us this far, I can take the next step._

After a quick stop in the wardrobe room for coats and skates—"Scott Hamilton gave me these skates, Rose!"—they caught the Tube toward Hampstead Heath and their outdoor rink.

Rose had her skates tied before the Doctor'd worked the knots out of his laces. He watched surreptitiously as she took a quick spin around the rink while he got his skates on, returning to the bench when he stood and cautiously made his way toward the ice.

He stood on the ice for a moment, watching her uncertainly. Ice skating seemed like a romantic activity—there was an entire writing trope dedicated to it—but it was something you could do with friends too. _Maybe I misread her._

Before he could backtrack or make a lighthearted comment to ease the tension, Rose held out a hand and raised an eyebrow. "You've got the moves? Show me your moves."

The familiar words froze him in place. He'd thought, before, well she'd barely accepted he was actually a man. Those words and her tone had seemed challenging, rather than flirtatious. But the next night on Cetera, she'd give him in a clear non-verbal sign that she wanted him to kiss her, and had confirmed that's what she meant.

He slid forward and took her right hand firmly in his left, then stood there staring at her a minute, trying to find the words to tell her… whatever it was she needed hear.

Apparently he wasn't fast enough, because Rose rolled her eyes theatrically and said, "you'll find your feet at the end of your legs. You may wish to move them."

The words galvanised the Doctor into action. Grasping her hand firmly, he pushed off with his right skate and propelled them backward, putting his right hand on her waist to hold her steady. "I believe, Miss Tyler, I told you I have moves. Are you prepared to see them?"

Rose's cheeks were pink, and he didn't think it was just because of the chill wind. His confidence grew and he smiled at her cockily, prepared to twirl her around the rink a few times to show off his moves (and maybe take advantage of an excuse to hold her in his arms) while he gathered the final bit of courage necessary to show her his Moves.

The nascent plan forming in the back of his mind was completely derailed when another skater whipped around the corner behind them and nearly knocked Rose and the doctor down. The Doctor flailed, his skates going in opposite directions. In front of him, Rose spun around wildly and he barely caught her by the armpits before she hit the ice.

He lifted her back up to her feet, nearly falling again in the process. Giggling madly, Rose grabbed his hand and pulled herself back around to face him.

The Doctor would be thankful to the laws of physics for the rest of his life for what happened next. Rose's feet slid on the ice, scrambling for purchase on the slick surface. He grabbed her around the waist, hoping that by some miracle he could hold her upright, or that at the very least he would land on bottom if they went down.

Instead, her footing stabilised and she let out a deep breath. He started to move his hand from her waist back to her hand, but then her feet slid forward again. Thanks to the hold he had on her, the motion pulled him toward her, and suddenly he was holding Rose Tyler flush against his body.

The Doctor opened his mouth to apologise, but then he took in the changes in her—the rapid pulse, dilated eyes, quickened breathing—and on instinct, started to lean forward.

Rose looked up at him through her eyelashes. "Why Doctor, are you… leaning?" she asked, a little breathlessly he thought.

Those words finally erased the last doubts from his mind. "Yes," he said, and then kissed her.


End file.
